#DurbanStorm: One year later

Cars came to a standstill and were submerged in flood water after a storm hit Durban earlier this month.

Durban - October 10, 2018 and if you look outside your window you will see blue skies and sunshine. A stark contrast to this very day last year when the city was hit by a violent storm that claimed the lives of at least eight people and left hundreds displaced.

On October 10, 2017 just after 9am what started off as an overcast day quickly changed. On social media, people living in areas south of Durban took to Facebook to ask what was going on with the weather. Within minutes, dark clouds began to gather and the threat of rain was imminent.

By 9:30am, heavy rains had begun to fall across the city. Some of the worst affected areas include the Bluff, Jacobs, Montclair, Glenwood, Umlazi, Merebank and Isipingo. The massive storm registered the highest daily rainfall figures for South Durban in recent years.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that
supports HTML5 video

International producer and DJ, Kyos Magupe, known as DJ Kyos, shared this video of hail in the city during the 10 October 2017 storm on his Instagram account @djkyos. Video: Supplied / Kyos Magupe

The South African Weather Service said that its Merebank station at the old airport site recorded 108mm of rainfall - the previous record was 105mm in a 24-hour period which fell on the October 30, 1985.

NSRI crew member Julian Singh carrying a child to safety at Montclair as the city flooded following the storm that hit it on 10 October 2017. Picture: Supplied / NSRI Durban.
The boarding establishment at Umlazi Comtech was destroyed by the storm. Picture: Karinda Jagmohan

A police officer was among those killed. He was crushed to death when a container dislodged by the storm fell on his car. His partner was injured. Other people were reported dead, including a toddler who was washed away when a creche was flooded.

A man was killed when a container allegedly fell on his car during the storm in Durban. Picture: Netcare 911
A container ship, the MSC Ines, broke from its moorings in the heavy storm. Picture Leon Lestrade/ANA

There were also reports of people being stranded in their cars, with some cars being submerged.

The roof at King Edward hospital collapsed and patients are currently being evacuated. There has been a mudslide near Doonside. A school has collapsed at Bushlands on the Bluff. Numerous schools across the affected areas were severely damaged as roofs were blown off.